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Friday, September 25, 2015

I had vague plans to go to NYC sometime later this fall, but when a last-minute work trip cropped up for Jon I couldn't pass up the opportunity to tag along. Jon's flight, taxis to and from airports, and our hotel were covered, plus he received a per diem allowance for food - almost too good to be true. Plus we found a killer deal on my flight (a perk of booking one week in advance) so the trip was practically free!

Flight there: I already had plans to tweet about our 50 year old hellhole of an airplane, and that was BEFORE Jon sat down and fell through his seat. Nearly broke his coccyx. They had to bring a maintenance worker on board to investigate, and she discovered that an entire support beam underneath his seat was somehow completely missing. Luckily there was ONE spare seat on the entire plane, which happened to be in First Class(!!!) They didn't give Jon that seat, though. They upgraded another guy, and put Jon in his seat. Which.................okay.

Anyway, the ordeal delayed us (and probably many other planes behind us). At one point the captain came over the intercom and informed everyone that "a passenger had an issue with his seat" and they were currently filling out incident paperwork. Jon tried his hardest to turn invisible.

Information that would have been useful THIRTY MINUTES AGO.

We stayed at Corinne and Kyle's place our first night. Kyle and Jon went for pizza shortly after we arrived (about one in the morning - yikes). NOM.

Day One:

Brunch at the Smith

Whitney Museum

View from the top floor

View from the ?th floor

View from the ?th floor

Jon and Corinne looking couple-ish on the ?th floor.

The B****y Resting Face is strong with these two.

Watermelon cucumber popsicles from People's Pops on the Highline

Where we got tacos and the most delicious slice of chocolate cake

Crane City

Jon's gift was a hit

We ate po' boys at a place called Clawdaddy for dinner then it was off to...

...The Slipper Room!! I've been wanting to go for ten years. It was everything I hoped and dreamed it would be. I think I was a burlesque dancer in a past life.

Day two:

We tried to score tickets to Les Mis (didn't happen). But there was a street festival happening en route to the tickets booth in Times Square, and this crepe was worth the failed effort. I do have feet in real life.

We got waffles in Central Park (my favorite thing I ate the entire trip) then walked through Shakespeare Garden.

This squirrel was after my Shake Shack. I cannot disclose how many outtakes (and french fries) this photo took me. But I prevailed! Christa captioned the result a "squelfie."

View from the Met rooftop. There was a beautiful Sargent exhibit there. This was my favorite piece. Simply lovely.

That night we went to a hilarious comedy show. This is how we discovered it:

Lady at church (overheard by Corinne): "So, my husband was in charge of date night last night and he took me to the WEIRDEST thing. It was totally just for him; he wasn't thinking of me at all when he planned it. It was this dumb, low-budget comedy show that was a scene-by-scene reenactment of Jurassic Park. Everyone was laughing hysterically, but I didn't get it. I don't even like Jurassic Park!"

Corinne [sidling into the conversation]: .......um..............where was this.

Unpictured from day two: Indian food for dinner, Eatily for after-the-show dessert.

Day three:

We rode the train into Brooklyn, got pepperoni pizza at a delicious place called Juliana's, and picnicked between the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges. Not a bad view.

Joseph "winking." I DIE.

We rode the ferry back, which dropped us downtown. Jon and I set off exploring by ourselves for a couple of hours. Trinity Church and cemetary was our first stop, where we observed this tour guide reenacting Alexander Hamilton's death, on Alexander Hamilton's grave.

I wanted to hide behind a bush and make a supercut of people craning their necks to view One World from the sidewalk directly below it. Fourth tallest building on earth.

That night we (and Corinne and Kyle) karaoked in a private room (just the four of us) in Koreatown, which, as it turns out, is my happy place.

Jon delighted us all with a perfectly executed version of "Gin and Juice." The scrolling lyrics tried to clean up the language, but Jon would not be censored. Don't watch the following video if the phrase "I got bitches in the living room gettin' it on" offends you.

One of my favorite pictures of myself ever taken. (Snapped by Corinne during "Toxic")

Other crowd favorites: Zombie (Jon), Grace Kelly (me), Break Stuff (Kyle), Alone (duet with me and Kyle - Kyle on the high parts), Chop Suey (Jon), and a heartfelt rendition of Foolish Games (me). Before one of his songs, Kyle said in a deep, cheesy DJ voice: "This one's going out to the Sweet sisters...you know who you are" and I laughed until I wept.

Unpictured stuff from that day: Skipping rocks between bridges, visiting Kyle's office, Pinkberry, Silver Moon Bakery, and dinner at a Greek place called Kefi (note to self, must go back for fingerling potato appetizer and whatever rabbit/pasta dish Jon got).

Day four:

Jon had to work this day :( I met Corinne at her place and we explored her neighborhood for a couple of hours while Joseph was at preschool.

Inside the Cathedral Church of St John the Divine.

A few months ago I read about this statue. I was moved and the images stayed with me, but I had no idea where the sculpture was installed. As we exited the cathedral into the garden, suddenly there she was. The surprise of stumbling into something so beautiful so unexpectedly literally took my breath away. I snapped some photos but they do her no justice. Click the link above for pictures and for an interview with the artist.

That night after he finished working Jon and I went down to Washington Square for fondue. My sisters, mom, and I ate at this place (Bourgeois Pig) the first time I went to NYC, and Jon went with Corinne and Kyle during one of his work trips yeeeeears ago. That was the day I was in a car crash back in Tucson, and I called to tell him what had happened precisely when the food was placed on the table, so he didn't really eat any of it. This was our first time going together. It was as delicious as I remembered, and Jon was just glad to taste it at all.

Day four was our last full day there. I'd been secretly hoping I'd be able to duck back into Central Park sometime for more waffles, but it just didn't work out. But when we got back to our hotel, Jon surprised me with one!!! He had walked into the park and bought a couple after he wrapped up at work and stashed them in the hotel as a nighttime snack. I could have cried tears of joy.

I was so exhausted that I ate it laying down, with the box scooted up against my neck to catch crumbs and Nutella drips. I was asleep by 9. According to Jon's phone, we walked FIFTY-FIVE MILES in our four days there!!!

Unpictured from day four: Brunch at Community, the most unbelievable tantrum by Joseph (I now fully understand the meaning of the term "ape-s***" -- it was so bad that we had to take a cab back to Corinne's apartment from Pinkberry because he could not be reasonably or safely moved by foot), and Riverside Park.

Leaving day: We only had time for breakfast before we had to head to the airport. Corinne and Joseph (Ada started school that day) met us at a Le Pain Quotidien near our hotel. Joseph's admiration for Jon continued to wax strong.

Killing fifteen minutes in the park, looking at shapes in clouds.

Jon got upgraded to First Class on the flight back and gave me his ticket. Thanks, Jon! It ended up being only marginally better than coach, though.

First class is okay I guess, but your seatmates still don't share their Starburst with you, so it's not, like, MAGICAL or anything.

Monday, August 03, 2015

I think this is the most pictures I've ever put in a single blog post. Prepare yourselves. (Or for a condensed and more Mormony version of events, see my brief write-up on BCC).

Less than three weeks ago, our friends Randal and Rebecca invited us to hike Havasupai Falls with them. They had secured a permit for a group of ten
to hike in on Sunday, July 26th and hike out the following day. Permits are extremely limited for this hike - usually you're lucky to book months in advance - but Randal's brother was fortunate to call the permitting office shortly after someone else had cancelled their spot. So Jon and I committed to a 20-mile round trip backpacking trip into the Grand Canyon with only a week to prepare.

I was pretty nervous. I'm not in shape, not particularly adventurous, and, in short, I wasn't sure if I had the constitution for it. My worrying was pointless though, because this trip ended up being the single most incredible experience of my life.

The magic started before we even got to the Hilltop parking lot, where we camped the night before. There's a 60+ mile long road that leads to the trailhead from Route 66. I'd read on other peoples' trip diaries to be cautious on that road, especially when traveling at night, because of "animals." I figured they meant cows so we both kept our eyes peeled and went a few miles-per-hour under the speed limit since it was well past dark. Just about five miles down the road, Jon slowed and flashed his brakes for Randal, who was following behind in a van. There was a massive female elk standing on the right side of the road, only feet from my face. She stood like a statue as we passed; it was eerie. Jon knocked another couple of miles-per-hour off his speed as we continued. Not long after, we started to see the largest bucks any of us (including a bunch of guys who were raised near the Canadian Rockies)had ever seen. I still get covered in chills just thinking about it. We would slow nearly to a stop as soon as their eyes caught the headlights, and as we crawled past they would slowly turn and disappear into the forest. Elk after elk after elk. One of them had a rack of antlers that ran the entire length of his body. Jon turned the car so our headlights illuminated him for the group behind us. He moved into the forest and leapt a 5 foot high fence like it was nothing. I could cry thinking about it. Magical.

We camped that night in the Hilltop parking lot. I slept on the back seat of the Honda and everyone else braved the mosquitos on cots outside. I successfully murdered the two that snuck into the car while we were setting up camp, and ten seconds later Jon tapped on the window wondering why I was "beating up the car."

No one slept well, and we were on the trail by 4:30am. We used our headlamps for the first 30 minutes or so before sunrise. I would like to use this opportunity to whole-heartedly recommend seeing the canyon at sunrise.

This dog followed us in. The kids kept calling him "Max" and when Randal asked how they knew his name, his 7 year old daughter chirruped, "Because we named him that!"

Most of the hike was in this narrow canyon, so even once the sun was up, we were shaded.

We were all in fits of joy over this tree. It was HUGE and literally glowing in a pool of sunshine.

^These^ pack horses were more subdued than most. The first train that passed us went galloping by. Randal's son, Carson, heard it coming and exclaimed "I can hear the falls! We're so close!" (There were still at least 5 miles to go.) We all went leaping out of the way.

WATER! As soon as we met up with the river, the temperature dropped about ten degrees. It was glorious.

These rock formations are called "The Watchers." They overlook the small village of Supai, where most of the Havasupai tribe lives. It's the most remote community in the lower 48 (and the only place in the US where mail is still delivered by mule! I'm kicking myself that I forgot to get a picture of the mules all lined up at a hitching post at the hilltop, behind a United States Mail sign.)

The first waterfall! This one is New Navajo Falls, created when there was a major flood event here in 2008.

Same falls, downstream view (and there's another cascade in the background)

Addie and me. Jon took lots of sneaky trail photos.

Havasu Falls. It's even more incredible in person, of course. I did a lot of research and looked at a lot of photos, and I was still completely overwhelmed by how beautiful it was.

"Havasupai" means "People of the blue green water." (The water is so-colored because of an abundance of limestone.)

Trading spaces

Because of our early start on the trail, we had almost all day to enjoy the falls. I was so glad to have gone when we did - the water is pretty chilly, so if it were any colder than 100 degrees outside, I doubt the water would have felt pleasant.

As the sun dropped behind the canyon wall

Inside the campground (which was nearly empty?? I couldn't believe how few people were there! We had our pick of amazing campsites.)

Mooney Falls - twice as high as Havasu Falls, but much less accessible. Of course, you can't really get an idea of height from a picture, but that lip of rock at the bottom of this photo is the top of a sheer 200 foot cliff. My heart was pounding as I took this. (Me + heights = diarrhea.)

^fear^

"Descend at own risk"

I knew ahead of time that the descent involved some intense climbing, passing through an old silver mine, and negotiating some rickety ladders bolted to the cliff wall. I knew I wouldn't be able to make it all the way down, but figured I'd go until I got too freaked out. It happened earlier than I thought it would. I quite suddenly found myself on a narrow ledge , navigating a tight corner, with a 250 degree view of the sheer drop and the thundering falls below. It was impossible to turn around, so I slithered down to a safer area, and it took me a good twenty minutes to work up the courage to turn around and go back up. My whole body was shaking when I finally did.

Safely at the top again

Feeling a little braver: Nestled in an alcove, inches from the drop.

From Mooney, we headed back to Havasu Falls. It was dusk and we were the only people there. I couldn't even believe it. Again, magic.

The turquoise pool was calling to me, so I hopped in. (My Teva sandals are very buoyant.)

NO ONE THERE

﻿

Falls, moon, bat

We camped that night on picnic tables near the river under the starriest sky I have ever seen. There weren't even any mosquitos in the canyon! Jon did wake up with a mouse on him though. He never quite managed to fall back asleep after that. In his own words: "I kicked it pretty far."

It was another early wake-up call to get the majority of the hike out of the canyon done before the sun was too intense. (The blue thing on my shoulders is a cooling towel. We bought a couple from Costco and they were lifesavers.)

Most of the hike out is a steady uphill slope through the canyon, with about a mile and a half of switchbacks up the cliff wall at the very end. I dreaded that last mile and a half the entire time. It was really intense but we went slow, took lots of breaks, and drank lots of water. I never felt like I couldn't do it, or like I was at risk of heatstroke or super tacky (I only ever have issues with my heart anymore during strenuous exercise).

We'd stashed some frozen Gatorades and coconut water in a cooler in our trunk, and they were perfectly slushy when we finally climbed out of the canyon. (A Twitter follower had promised me a spiritual experience if I did that, and he was right!)

Oh my gosh, this blog post is so long. But there's more. I decided to take another day off of work so we could stay the night in Seligman, AZ and do the full Grand Canyon experience the next day. Seligman is a kitschy Route 66 stop. We checked into our quaint little motel (Aztec Motel, I can't recommend it enough), hobbled around on un-bending legs, showered, nursed our blisters, napped for three hours, went and got burgers here...

...came back, laid in bed drinking Gatorade and eating Oreos, watched the Bachelorette season finale, and crashed at 9pm. As we drove away the next morning toward the Grand Canyon and after having eaten a hearty breakfast at a local diner, I teared up, sad to be leaving the falls and our cozy little motel room behind.